Contiki Christmas
Every December, thousands of young Australians and New Zealanders face their first Christmas away from home. London is cold. Family is 17,000 kilometres away. And the people around the table are often strangers they met on a Contiki trip.
But those strangers rarely stay strangers…
When you can’t be under a Southern sky, we’ll bring the Southern sky to you.
We create limited-edition Southern Cross tree toppers (white six-pointed stars for Australians, red-edged stars for Kiwis) and send them to past Contiki travellers who stayed on in London.
A small object. A powerful symbol.
Placed on top of trees in shared flats across the city, the Southern Cross turns foreign rooms into familiar ground. For one night, London lives under a Southern sky.
The star became the centre of “Orphans Christmas” — the unofficial tradition where Contiki travellers celebrate together when family is far away. Presents were placed beneath it. Photos were shared across hemispheres. Friends back home saw proof: they weren’t alone.
Contiki doesn’t just run festive trips. It makes chosen family official.
And in the season that defines belonging, the brand becames the constellation that keeps its travellers connected — wherever they land.